relations—the downing of Francis Gary Powers’s U-2spy craft in
May 1960, the building of the Berlin wall in 1961, and the Cuban
Missile Crisisin 1962. His internal reforms and external accommo-
dations alienated the more conservative elements of the Soviet Com-
munist Party, who ousted Khrushchev from power in 1964.KHRUSHCHEV’S SECRET SPEECH. Soviet premier Nikita S.
Khrushchevdelivered a secret speech before the Twentieth Con-
gress of the Communist Party in February 1956. In the speech,
Khrushchev detailed the crimes of Josef Stalin, his predecessor. The
Soviet government maintained strict secrecy over its contents, al-
though the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) acquired a copy of
the speech, probably from the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad,
had it translated and printed by the Department of State, and then
leaked it to theNew York Times. By doing so, the CIAhoped to fo-
ment discontent in East European countries occupied by Soviet
forces and to boost the chances of its Red Sox/Red Cap covert ac-
tionto foster rebellion in Soviet-occupied East European countries
by the end of 1959.KISSINGER, HENRY A. (1923– ).Dr. Henry A. Kissinger was the
56th secretary of state of the United States from 1973 to 1977 while
also serving as assistant to the president for national security af-
fairs (APNSA), a position he filled from 1969 until 1975.
Born in Germany, Dr. Kissinger came to the United States in 1938
and was naturalized a citizen in 1943. From 1943 to 1946, he served
in the Counter Intelligence Corps(CIC) and from 1946 to 1949 was
a captain in the military intelligence reserve. He attended Harvard
University, earning MAand PhD degrees in 1952 and 1954, respec-
tively. From 1954 until 1971, he was a member of the faculty of Har-
vard University, both in the Department of Government and at the
Center for International Affairs, and headed various centers, task
forces, and projects during this time. Kissinger took a leave of ab-
sence from Harvard between 1969 and 1971 to serve in the Richard
M. Nixonadministration and subsequently became a highly contro-
versial figure in American foreign policy.
As architect of President Nixon’s Vietnam Warpolicy of negoti-
ating through strength, Kissinger presided over the heavy bombing of112 • KHRUSHCHEV’S SECRET SPEECH05-398 (2) Dictionary.qxd 10/20/05 6:27 AM Page 112